The present invention relates to channel assignment in a wireless communications system, and more particularly to immediate channel assignment in a wireless communications system. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to channel assignment, or connection resolution and gateway assignment at an early time in a signalling phase of a wireless call.
Wireless communications have increased mobility, reachability and efficiency in modern society. Most wireless communications systems are land based systems known as cellular telephony systems. Cellular telephony systems are based on terrestrial base stations that together form a network of cells within which communications between subscriber units and the base stations are conducted.
In remote locations, however, or in locations in which a particular subscriber unit or wireless transceiver is not authorized to communicate, a wireless transceiver can have little or no value to its user.
One solution to the geographic limitations imposed by terrestrial cellular systems is the satellite based system. In these systems, a few satellites cover wide areas of the globe with wireless transceivers operating anywhere within these areas communicating directly with the corresponding satellites.
In conventional wireless access communications, whether cellular, fixed wireless, personal communications services or satellite-based, a random access channel is an access window in which the wireless transceiver transmits a short channel request message of only a few bits. This message is received by a respective network and used only for contention resolution and timing synchronization. Since most wireless systems do not support optimal routing to other gateways, this protocol is satisfactory in such systems. For systems, however, like satellite systems, with optimal routing, implementing this approach results in a call setup time penalty of more than, for example, five seconds.
The present invention advantageously addresses the needs above as well as other needs by providing an approach to immediate channel assignment in a wireless communication system.
In one embodiment, the present invention can be characterized as a method for immediate channel assignment in a wireless communications system. The method has steps of receiving a channel request message from a wireless transceiver, the channel request message including a dialed party number; forming an immediate assignment message including a channel assignment; transmitting the immediate assignment message to the wireless transceiver; and establishing a communications channel between the wireless transceiver and a called party by establishing a channel between the wireless transceiver and the called party.